Vestibule for railway-cars.



, PATENTED NOV. 6. 1906.

2 SHEETS- 'BHEET 1 W. P. RICHARDS.

VESTIBULE FOR RAILWAYv CARS.

APPLICAIION r1121) NOV 20 1905 WZnesses: 5. a rz/wv.

N6.835,114; PATENTED NOV. 6,1906.

- w. F. RICHARDS.

VESTIBULE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLIOAI IOH FILED NOV. 20.1905.

fnz/e'nlor,

Z/L Znesses: I I aczxdm. g

THE NORRIS PETERS ca, WASHINGTON, n. c.

WILLARD E;

' Buffalo, in the county ofErie and State of New York, have invented .anew and useful Improvement in Vestibules for Railway-Car's, of which thefollowing is a specification.

- This invention relates to vestibules for railway-cars. I

The ordinary railway-car vestibuleisprovided at the outer end of the[stationary frame'structure..with an extensible and compressible hoodformed by'anopenrectangular frame or face-plate and flexible diaphragmsor extensible wallsof other construction, which connect theface-plate tothe end of the stationary'partof the vestibule and allow the face-platet0 move'to- .5 ward and from the end of the "vestibule.-

When the cars are coupled-in a train, the abutting hoodsof the adjacentvestibules are compressed somewhat and the-'face-plates are yieldinglypressed outtoward each other and constantly-held in contactb springs'orpressure means, which allow of t e compression and extension of thehoods due tothe movementsof thecars toward andfrom'each other permittedby the draft devices l The primary object of the invention is to producevery simple, compact, and desirable pressure means for holding the upperparts of the face-plates in contact, soconstructed that the face-platescan be rigidly-secured to the vestibule-buffers and the pressure meanslocated'wholly in the hood outside of'the stationary vestibule. v YOther objects ofthe invention-are'to improve the pressure means for theface-plates fof car-vestibules in-the respects hereinafter specified,and set forth in the claims;

' In theaccompanying drawings, -consisting of two sheets, Figure 1 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of a portion of the stationarystructure and extensible' hood of a -car' vestibule embodyingthe-invention; Fig. 2 is a rearv elevation of the face-plate, partly insection in line 22, Fig. 3, omitting the dia-- phragmsl Fig. 3 is ahorizontal sectional plan of the vestibule'in line '3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a fragmentary elevation, partly in section, of the end ofthevestibule and pressure devices for-the face-plate. Fig. 51s asectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, of one of thezpr'essuredevices for the face-plate.

* PA N OFFICE;

. RlQHARDS Q U lQ YO A N RH I QUFD couPL aooM A gor NEW'YORK, I\iizSTiBu fF;Fora; RAIILWAY-CARSQ' Specification of Letters Patent,Application filed November 20, 1905. Seria1No. 288,l43-

. .i:' Patented Nov, 6,1906,

Like letters of reference refer tolike parts in'the'several figures. Arepresents the outrrpassage-way frame orouter end of'a car-vestibule; Bthe mov able face-plate or'frame which is similar in shape to the'outerend of the'vestibule and is connectedat its sides and-top to the endofthe vestibule by the flexible or extensible diaphragms or'walls formingthe top and sides 'of'the extensible and" compressible hood. These partsmay be of any usual or suitable construction. 1

In the construction shown in the drawings the metal face-plate isreinforced by" upright T'-bars riveted to the sides thereof, and-thewalls of the hood are preferably formed b inner and outer diaphragms 'C'C, but suc construction is not an essential of'the inven tion.

The face-plate B is riveted or otherwise rigidl attached at its lowerend to the vestibuleuffer D, which is pressed yieldingl {out in frontof'the end=sill (tor the vestibu e by the usualbufier-sp'rings. --(Notshown.) The buffers'of cars coupled together are held in contact bytheir springs irrespective-of the movements ofthecars toward and fromeach other, and so'hold the lower portions ofthe face-plates ofadjoining hoods in-oontact and the buffers are usuall capable of pivotingg'or Swinging horizontal y somewhat, so -that they and the lowerends ofthe face pl'ates are held flat against each other throngh gittheir width when the cars erre -rounding curves. Asthe face-plates areof considerf links swing on their pivotal conneotionswith the end of'thevestibule in; the movements of the face-plate toward and-from-thelatter,- 1 and as the face-plate 'isii igidly attached to thevestibule-buffer, andso'held from vertical movement, .one end ofeach'liri'k hasiaisl-id 'ing connection with thei partitouwhich itiisclined position, and 'therebypress the faceplate outwardlyfrom the endof the vestibule. Preferably the links are pivoted at their lower endsto the end of the vestibule and their upper ends are'pivoted to slidesF, which are movable vertically on the rear sideof the faceplate, andthe upward movement of the slides is opposed by suitable springs G. Theconstruction of the links, slides, and pressure devices may be varied.In the construction shownin the drawings the lower end of each link is.rovided' with a cross-head or pivot e,

which ears in the seat of a fulcrum-box e,

secured on the end of the vestibule. The fulcrum-box has a removable..cap plate, which is slotted vertically to allow of the movements ofthe link and to enable the link to be placed in and removed from itsseat,

and the cap-plate is provided at opposite sides of its slot withprojecting lugs 6 between which the link is guided and is held fromlateral deflection. Each slide F, to which the upper endof the link ispivoted, has a hollow cylindrical upper portion, which is confined andguided in a hollow cylindrical pocket f, secured to the rear side of thefaceplate, .and a depending' slotted extension f Aheaded stud passingthrough the'slot of said extension and secured to the face-plate,assists in guiding the slide and prevents the detachment thereof fromthe faceplate. An-

antifriction-rollerf .surroundsthe stud f 2 in the slot, to reduce thefriction between the slide and the stud. The link E can be pivoted tothe slide F by a pin f 4 or in anyother suitable manner. Thecoil-springs G, which oppose the upward movement of the slides F,are'in'closed and protected in the hollow ortions of the slides and theguide-poo ets therefor.

When the face-plates are forced rearwardly or, toward the ends of thevestibules by the bumping of the cars, the links E swing rearwardly withthe face-plates, and as their upper ends move upwardly in the arcs ofcircles the slides F, connected to the links, are moved upwardly ,on theface-plates and compress the springs G in the spring-pockets. Thepressure of the sprin s on the slides constantly tends to force t elatterdownwardly, and such'downward movement of the slides forces thelinks outwardly and through them presses the upper portion of theface-plate outwardly. The vertical movement of the slides is slight andshort springs can be employed, As the springs are arrangedvertically,.they occupy the least possible horizontal space and willallow the maximum movement of the face-plate toward theend of thevestibule. If the springs'were arranged horizontally, they would have tobe several times the length of the s rings shown to obtain an equalmovement of the face-plate and would consequently have to be let intothe vestibule structure, thereby making it necessary to out intothevestibule' to apply the pressure devices and greatly increasing thecost of application of the hood to the vestibule. The links areindependently movable and enable the upper part of the face-plate toassume an oblique position, so that the upper as well as the lower partof the face-plate will maintain a proper contact from side to side whenthe cars are rounding curves.

In a hood such as shown, having inner and outer diaphragms or flexiblewalls, the pressure devices are preferably located between upright sideportions of the two diaphragms.

Some means, such as a chain H, attached at opposite ends to the upperpart of the end of the vestibule and passing around a sheave h, securedto the upper part of the face-plate B, are employed for hmiting theoutward movement of the face. Any other suitable stop device could beused.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a car-vestibule, of anextensible hood therefor, and means for extending said hood comprising aswingin link which connects the outer portion of sai hood to thevestibule and is pivoted at one end to one of said parts and has asliding connection at the other end with the other part, and meansexerting force on said link in a vertical direction to swing the linkaway from the part to which it is pivoted, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a car-vestibule, of a face-plate whichisconnected to the vestibule by an extensible wall and is movable towardand from the vestibule, and means for pressing said face-plate outwardlyaway from the vestibule, comprising links each pivoted at one end tosaid vestibule and having sliding and pivotal connection at the otherend with said face-plate, and means exerting force on said links in avertical direction to swing them away from the vestibule, substantiallyas set forth.

3. The combination with a car-vestibule, of a face-plate which isconnected to the vestibule by an extensible wall and is movable towardand from the vestibule, and means for pressing said face-plate outwardlyaway from the vestibule, comprising links pivoted at their lower ends tothe sides of the vestibule and having pivotal and sliding connections attheir upper ends with the upper side portions of said face-plate, andsprings carried .toward and from the vestibule but is held from verticalmovement, and means for pressing said face-plate outwardly away from thevestibule, comprising links pivoted at one end to the vestibule, slidespivoted to the other ends of said links, hollow springpockets on saidface-plate in which said movable horizontally toward and from the Ivestibule, and means for pressing said faceplate outwardly away from thevestibule, comprlsing links pivoted at opposite ends to the sideportions of said face-plate and vesti- 2o bule and also having slidingconnections with said face-plate, and means for yieldingly resisting themovement of said links toward the vestibule, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 1 1th day of Novem- 2 5 her, 1905.

WILLARD F. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

EDWARD O. HARD, A. L. MCGEE.

